Alien: Covenant (2017) Movie Review

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Alien: Covenant follows the crew of a ship bound for a colony planet who land on an uncharted planet and make a terrifying discovery. The film stars Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Carmen Ejogo and Demián Bichir and is directed by Ridley Scott (The Martian, Blade Runner, Alien).

My Thoughts On The Characters And Story

Ridley Scott is at it again proving that age truly is nothing more than a way to receive discounts at your local restaurant and/or theatre. Alien: Covenant serves as a sequel to 2012’s Prometheus and prequel to the beloved 1970s classic, Alien. The film features a ridiculously fantastic performance by one of my favourite actors working in Hollywood today, Michael Fassbender, who manages to flawlessly execute dual roles while staying true to each respective character. His characters beliefs contrast each other and watching him work off himself is just wonderful to witness.

There is a sense of camaraderie between the characters on the ship, however I really only enjoyed watching only a handful of them on the screen. Danny McBride and Katherine Waterston were both pretty brilliant, the others served their roles respectably but there were times when even I wanted to see one or two (or four) of them be mauled by a xenomorph.

The sense of dread felt throughout Covenant is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. I felt a deep connection with Waterston’s character and particularly with Fassbender’s character from Prometheus, David. Since they both hold conflicting ideologies, I loved the back and forth I faced with myself because there is truly nothing better than when a film challenges me… For the curious, by the end of the film I was rooting for David. Yes, I am officially Robert DeNiro‘s character from Goodfellas.

[Credit: 20th Century Fox]

There were a couple horror tropes sprinkled throughout that made me roll my eyes and included SPOILER a couple fucking in the shower while the predatory figure looms over. END SPOILER. I also do wish they focused more on the beliefs that David was attempting to argue, however I understand their decision to place emphasis on the typical horror aspect of it since there were other enjoyable components (like the gloriously blood-filled sequences) that appealed to the mass audience.

There were some great scares featured in the film with a few of the scares pertaining to the dumb choices made by some of these crew members. The idea of intelligent individuals traveling down to a foreign planet is essentially the entire idea behind the various Star Trek incarnations and they are executed virtually flawlessly. The Covenant crew members are clearly intelligent because they are responsible for these thousands of colonists, however certain decisions made by them made me think “really, guys?”

MAJOR SPOILERCan someone please explain to me how the ever-living fuck David managed to (I assume) kill Walter? The brief shot of the knife simply doesn’t make logical sense because Walter overcame that one moment where we think David killed him. Did he stab him in the eye? Does he have an on/off switch that David utilized? It doesn’t make any goddamn sense! END SPOILER

How Were The Other Aspects Of ‘Alien: Covenant’?

Captain Obvious checking in here: I thoroughly enjoyed Scott’s direction of the film. His creeping through the corridors and occasional perspective switches were brilliant. Having the crew members attach GoPros to their backpacks was such a small yet clever inclusion. Nothing is more terrifying to me than deep space and the occasional shots in space got to me. As this is the first Alien movie I have ever watched – such a blasphemous comment, I know – it kept me entertained and encouraged me to watch at least the first two original Aliens and quite possibly Prometheus despite the less-than-stellar reaction for it… Not to mention the fucking terrible Charlize Theron moments when she DOESN’T ZIG ZAG! ALWAYS ZIG ZAG!!

[Credit: 20th Century Fox]

If you’re intrigued by the Alien franchise and want to watch a sci-fi thriller on a random rainy day, check out Alien: Covenant.

Alien: Covenant receives 3/5 Matt Damon heads.

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Published by Ghezal

Hello there!
My name is Ghezal. I'm just a small town girl, livin' in a lonely world... jks I hail from the great white North city of Toronto, Ontario and I sure do love movies.
Check out my ramblings and reviews! At www.ghezalplusmovies.com
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